This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Enfield Library.

What if you could still have meaningful connections with your loved ones—even after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis?

Alzheimer’s and dementia are notorious for stealing the memories and words from our loved ones. In Visited Mom Today, author John Scully shares the secret to connecting with those suffering from this confusing, frustrating disease. Scully observed how staff interacted with his mom and other residents in her memory care unit, and discovered that the connection lies in stepping into their world, instead of reminding them what is no longer possible in this one.

Scully’s conversations with dozens of residents will have you laughing out loud, tearing up, and reflecting on your own life experiences. Most of all, this book encompasses a feeling of possibility. The simple act of meeting someone where they are and engaging with them in that moment can bring light to the shadows of dementia.

In 2008, when their mother was diagnosed with “dementia of the Alzheimer’s type,” John Scully and his five siblings began overseeing her care. Since 2011, they visited several times a week at a nursing home where she lived until her death in June 2024. John’s visits were the impetus for this book.

A graduate of Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts, with a double major in communications and management, John worked for radio and television stations for the first eight years of his career. For 30 years after that, he worked for a media/advertising firm, the last seven of which serving as President.

John retired in 2019 and is a volunteer end-of-life doula with Middlesex Health Hospice Program in Middletown, Connecticut. He and his husband David are active in their church, Immanuel Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, and live in West Hartford, Connecticut with their cat Sophie.